The sixth edition of the sixth grade Biggest Dig project is underway. This is the signature event of the sixth grade year at Beaver (and, oh yeah, it takes six weeks to complete).

Students have been assigned a year from as far back as 17,000 years ago up to 2009. Each year comes with a major historical event that occurred during those 12 months. It’s the students’ job to “dig” for information about their year and event.

Each student is responsible for writing a chapter about their year which will be compiled into a book titled, The Sixth Grade History of the World (Sixth Edition). In addition, students must give a presentation (either oral or by video) about their research.

Over the years the materials for this project have moved away from handout after handout to being housed online at the Biggest Dig wiki. Students must include both online and print resources in their research, compile their notes using the web application NoodleBib, and communicate with their teachers via email.

Sixth grade teacher Jon Greenberg and Director of Information Services Kelley Connolly recently presented their work on the Biggest Dig project at the K12 Online Conference. Their entire presentation can be found here.

You can learn more about the Biggest Dig by visiting the wiki. We’ll post updates as the project moves along and show you some of the completed products.